Home device sensing

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, apparatuses and computer-readable media for receiving data from one or more sensors associated with one or more home devices, such as appliances, home systems, etc. are presented. The data may be used to determine whether operation of the home device is within an acceptable range. If not, the user associated with the home device may receive an alert identifying a potential issue. One or more potential modifications to improve the home device may be identified and transmitted to the user. In some examples, an insurance incentive to implement the recommended modifications may also be transmitted to the user.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to co-pendingU.S. application Ser. No. 14/027,539, filed Sep. 16, 2013, and entitled“Home Device Sensing,” which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the disclosure generally relate sensing of one or more homedevices. In particular, various aspects described herein relatereceiving data from one or more sensors associated with one or more homedevices and using the data to identify abnormalities in operation of thehome device. The data may then be used to alert the user associated withthe home device and/or adjust insurance rates.

BACKGROUND

People are often looking for ways to protect their homes. People buyinsurance for exactly that reason—to protect against unforeseen risks.However, although insurance will pay for damage to your home, vehicle,etc. after it occurs, being aware of a potential risk before damageoccurs may aid in reducing inconvenience and costs. Further, even if aperson is aware of a potential risk, failure, etc., the person may nothave enough information to determine how to fix the issue or may notfully comprehend the potential severity of the issue.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects of the disclosure. The summary is not anextensive overview of the disclosure. It is neither intended to identifykey or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope ofthe disclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts ofthe disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the descriptionbelow.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to systems, methods, apparatuses andcomputer-readable media for receiving data from one or more sensorsassociated with one or more home devices, such as appliances, homesystems, etc. The data may be used to determine whether operation of thehome device is within an acceptable range. If not, the user associatedwith the home device may receive an alert identifying a potential issue.One or more potential modifications to improve the home device may beidentified and transmitted to the user. In some examples, an insuranceincentive to implement the recommended modifications may also betransmitted to the user.

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent fromthe additional description provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment and computing systems that maybe used to implement aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example home device sensing systemaccording to one or more aspects described herein.

FIG. 3 is an example home device sensing system according to one or moreaspects described herein.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating one example method of implementing ahome device sensing system according to one or more aspects describedherein.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating another example method ofimplementing a home device sensing system according to one or moreaspects described herein.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating yet another example method ofimplementing a home device sensing system according to one or moreaspects described herein.

FIG. 7 is an example user interface providing an alert to a userincluding a proposed modification and incentive according to one or moreaspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and inwhich is shown by way of illustration, various embodiments of thedisclosure that may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art upon reading thefollowing disclosure, various aspects described herein may be embodiedas a method, a computer system, or a computer program product.Accordingly, those aspects may take the form of an entirely hardwareembodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combiningsoftware and hardware aspects. Furthermore, such aspects may take theform of a computer program product stored by one or morecomputer-readable storage media having computer-readable program code,or instructions, embodied in or on the storage media. Any suitablecomputer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or anycombination thereof. In addition, various signals representing data orevents as described herein may be transferred between a source and adestination in the form of electromagnetic waves traveling throughsignal-conducting media such as metal wires, optical fibers, and/orwireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space).

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device (or system) 101in communication system 100 that may be used according to one or moreillustrative arrangements of the disclosure. The device 101 may have aprocessor 103 for controlling overall operation of the device 101 andits associated components, including RAM 105, ROM 107, input/outputmodule 109, and memory 115. The computing device 101, along with one ormore additional devices (e.g., terminals 141, 151) may correspond to anyof multiple systems or devices, such as various servers or systems, suchas a home device sensing system, configured as described herein forreceiving data associated with one or more home devices, to determinewhether the operation of these devices is within an acceptable range,and identify any potential issues or failures.

Input/Output (I/O) 109 may include a microphone, keypad, touch screen,and/or stylus through which a user of the computing device 101 mayprovide input, and may also include one or more of a speaker forproviding audio output and a video display device for providing textual,audiovisual and/or graphical output. Software may be stored withinmemory 115 and/or storage to provide instructions to processor 103 forenabling device 101 to perform various functions. For example, memory115 may store software used by the device 101, such as an operatingsystem 117, application programs 119, and an associated internaldatabase 121. Processor 103 and its associated components may allow thesystem 101 to execute a series of computer-readable instructions toreceive data associated with a home device, determine one or morerecommended modifications to improve operation of the home device and/orgenerate an incentive to implement the recommended modifications.

The system 101 may operate in a networked environment 100 supportingconnections to one or more remote computers, such as terminals 141 and151. The terminals 141 and 151 may be personal computers, servers (e.g.,web servers, database servers), or mobile communication devices (e.g.,mobile phones, portable computing devices, and the like), and mayinclude some or all of the elements described above with respect to thehome device sensing system 101. The network connections depicted in FIG.1 include a local area network (LAN) 125 and a wide area network (WAN)129, and a wireless telecommunications network 133, but may also includeother networks. When used in a LAN networking environment, the system101 may be connected to the LAN 125 through a network interface oradapter 123. When used in a WAN networking environment, the system 101may include a modem 127 or other means for establishing communicationsover the WAN 129, such as network 131 (e.g., the Internet). When used ina wireless telecommunications network 133, the system 101 may includeone or more transceivers, digital signal processors, and additionalcircuitry and software for communicating with wireless computing devices141 (e.g., mobile phones, portable computing devices, and the like) viaone or more network devices 135 (e.g., base transceiver stations) in thewireless network 133.

It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areillustrative and other means of establishing a communications linkbetween the computers may be used. The existence of any of variousnetwork protocols such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like, andof various wireless communication technologies such as GSM, CDMA, WiFi,WiMAX, and wireless mesh networks, is presumed, and the variouscomputing devices and system components described herein may beconfigured to communicate using any of these network protocols ortechnologies.

Additionally, one or more application programs 119 used by the homedevice sensing system 101 may include computer-executable instructions(e.g., home device characteristic data analysis, etc.) for receivingdata associated with a home device of a user, analyzing the data todetermine whether it is within a predefined threshold, and/or generatingan alert based on the received data.

The systems described herein may be used by an insurance company,financial institution or other entity to monitor one or more homedevices and/or systems and identify potential issues or failures, eitherafter the failures or prior to the failures occurring. Although manyexamples herein will be described as being used in conjunction with aninsurance company, the systems and methods described herein may be usedby or with other entities or types of entities without departing fromthe invention.

In some arrangements, a home device sensing system may be implemented byan entity. In some examples, the entity may be an insurance company.FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of one home device sensing systemarrangement according to one or more aspects described herein. Thearrangement 200 may include a home 202. The home generally includes avariety of systems, appliances, etc. that may be monitored by the homedevice sensing system described herein. For instance, one or moresensors or sensing devices may be arranged on or integrated into devicessuch as hot water heaters, refrigerators, washing machines, dryers,furnaces, air conditioning units, and the like. Various arrangementsdescribed herein will be described in terms of a sump pump beingmonitored by one or more sensing devices. However, nothing in thedisclosure should be viewed as limiting the home device sensing systemto use only with sump pumps.

The home 202 depicted in FIG. 2 may include a plurality of appliancesand/or systems and one or more of the appliances and/or systems (e.g.,devices) may be monitored by one or more sensing devices, as will bedescribed more fully below. Signals from the one or more sensing devicesmay be transmitted to the home device sensing system 206 at an entity,such as an insurance company. In some examples, the signals may bewirelessly transmitted and may be transmitted to a base collection unit204 prior to transmission to the system 206. Alternatively, the signalsmay be transmitted directly to the system, via wired or wireless means.In some arrangements, the data may be collected in real-time and/ortransmitted in real-time. Additionally or alternatively, the data may becollected and/or transmitted in batches.

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a home device sensing system 300. Eachcomponent shown in FIG. 3 may be implemented in hardware, software or acombination of the two. Additionally, each component of the home devicesensing system may include a computing device (or system) having some orall of the structural components described above for computing device101.

The home device sensing system 300 may be associated with an entity 301.For instance, the system 300 may be implemented by an entity 301, suchas an insurance company. In other examples, the system 300 may beimplemented by various other types of companies, universities,government entities, and the like. Several examples discussed hereinwill be described in the context of an insurance company. However,nothing in the disclosure should be viewed as limiting the systems,methods, computer-readable media, and the like, described herein to usewith insurance companies.

The home device sensing system 300 may include a plurality of sensingdevices 302 a-302 c. The sensing devices 302 a-302 c may be a variety oftypes of devices and may be used to monitor or sense one or morecharacteristics of a home device, such as an appliance, system, etc. Forinstance, the sensing devices 302 a-302 c may include power sensors, afloat switches, and/or moisture sensors. In other examples, the sensingdevices 302 a-302 c may include devices for sensing temperature, sewagebackup, natural gas, propane, etc., air quality (e.g., carbon monoxide,etc.), air flow quality, water flow, and the like. Various other typesof sensing devices and/or characteristics may be monitored via sensingdevices 302 a-302 c.

The one or more sensing devices 302 a-302 c may be connected to or incommunication with one or more home devices, such as appliances,systems, etc., to monitor one or more characteristics of the homedevice. For instance, home devices such as a sump pump, roof, attic(e.g., air flow in attic), water heater, washing machine, dryer,refrigerator, freezer, air conditioner, furnace, and the like, may bemonitored. Various other appliances and/or systems may be monitoredwithout departing from the invention.

Although the home device sensing system 300 includes three sensingdevices 302 a-302 c, the system may include more or fewer sensingdevices without departing from the invention. Further, in some examples,each sensing device may be a different type of device and/or may beconfigured to monitor different characteristics of the home device(e.g., sensing device 302 a detects moisture while sensing device 302 bdetects power consumption). Additionally or alternatively, each sensingdevice 302 a-302 c may be connected to or in communication with adifferent home device, or multiple sensing devices 302 a-302 b may beconnected to or in communication with a single home device such thatmultiple, different characteristics of the home device are beingmonitored (e.g., simultaneously). This may permit additional and/or moreaccurate information to be collected about the home device.

Signals and/or data from the sensing devices 302 a-302 c may be receivedby the home device sensing system 300. For instance, signals and/or datamay be transmitted from the sensing device 302 a-302 c to the system 300via wired or wireless transmission. In some examples, the data and/orsignals may be transmitted to a base unit for collection prior totransmission to the system 300 or entity 301 associated with the system.In other examples, the data and/or signals may be transmitted directlyfrom each sensor 302 to the system 300 or entity 301.

The signals and/or data from the sensing device 302 a-302 c may bereceived by a device data module 304. The device data module 304 mayinclude one or more computing devices containing many or all of thehardware/software components of computing device 101 in FIG. 1. Thedevice data module 304 may include hardware, software, and networkcomponents to receive and/or transmit information to and/or from variouscomputing devices, modules, databases, and the like.

The device data module 304 may be configured to perform a set offunctions within the home device sensing system 300. For instance, thedevice data module 304 may collect data and/or signals received from thesensing devices 302 a-302 c and may include one or more algorithms whichmay be executed by one or more software applications running on genericor specialized hardware within the home device sensing system 300 todetermine whether the data received is at, above or below one or morepredefined thresholds. For instance, the device data module 304 maydetermine whether data received from a sensing device indicating powerconsumption is at, above, or below a predetermined power consumptionthreshold. Additionally or alternatively, the device data module 304 maydetermine whether to store data received from the sensing device 302a-302 c, such as in customer data storage 306. Customer data storage 306may be organized in any of several different manners. For example, atable in customer data storage 306 may include a listing of the varioushome devices associated with a user, historical data of each home devicereceived from one or more sensors, etc.

In still other examples, the device data module 304 may aggregate and/orcompare data received from sensing devices 302 a-302 c with other data,such as data stored in other user database 308. Other user database 308may be organized in any of several different manners. For example, atable in the other user database 308 may include a listing of varioususers, home devices associated with each user, historical data of thehome devices, current or recent weather data, historical weather data,and the like. Other user database 308 may include data received fromother users having sensing devices similar to sensing devices 302 a-302c. Additionally or alternatively, the other users may be associated withthe entity implementing the system (e.g., the users may be customers ofthe insurance company). In still other examples, the other user data mayinclude publicly available data such as weather data, and the like.

In some arrangements, the data may be compared based on location. Forinstance, the data received from sensing device 302 a-302 c may becompared with data for users within a predefined proximity (e.g., 1mile, 3 miles, 5 miles, a zip code, etc.) to determine characteristicsof that particular area, locality, neighborhood, etc. For instance, ifthe data received indicates that sump pumps of several users within thepredefined proximity runs more frequently than a norm, that may indicateone or more characteristics of the water table in that area. In anotherexample, received sensor data may indicate that a flood or high watersensor has been activated. However, weather data for that locality mayindicate that it is not currently raining and/or that it has not rainedfor period of time. Accordingly, this information may be aggregated andanalyzed (e.g., by the system) to determine that there may be a flood orthat there may be a malfunction of one or more sensors. In someexamples, this information may be used to determine, adjust, etc. one ormore insurance rates and/or premiums for the area (e.g., some data mayindicate increased or decreased risk and thus the rates may be adjustedaccordingly).

The home device sensing system may further include a modification module310. The modification module may be implemented in hardware and/orsoftware configured to perform a set of functions within the home devicesensing system 300. The modification module 310 may receive data and mayinclude one or more algorithms which may be executed by one or moresoftware applications running on generic or specialized hardware withinthe home device sensing system 300 to, based on the determinationsand/or comparisons made by the device data module 304, identify one ormore improvements that may be made to the home device being monitored.For instance, if data indicates that a sump pump runs more frequentlythan other sump pumps (e.g., power consumption above a predeterminedthreshold, run time above a predetermined threshold, etc.), it mayindicate an issue with the sump pump or a potential failure of the sumppump (e.g., motor may fail due to overuse). Accordingly, themodification module 310 may determine that it would be advantageous(e.g., to prevent failure and potential flood risk) to replace the pumpand/or service the pump.

In some examples, this identified modification may be communicated toindividuals associated with the entity (e.g., an insurance agentrepresenting the customer, etc.) and/or the user. For instance, an alertmay be issued to the agent and/or user indicating the increased powerconsumption associated with the home device and recommending serviceand/or replacement. The alert may be issued via one or more computingdevices, such as devices 314. For instance, the alert may be transmittedto one or more of a smartphone 314 a, personal digital assistant (PDA)314 b, a tablet computing device 314 c, a cell phone 314 d and/or aterminal or other computing device 314 e. Various other types of devicesmay also be used without departing from the invention. For instance, thealert may be transmitted via a user interface in a vehicle of ahomeowner. In some examples, the alert may be transmitted via email,short messaging service (SMS), social media, and the like. In somearrangements, the alert may be presented to a user upon logging in to awebsite associated with the entity. In still other examples, thecomputing device receiving and/or displaying the alert may be locatedwithin a vehicle of the user (e.g., a user interface on a vehicleinformation screen).

The home device monitoring system 300 may further include incentivemodule 312. The incentive module 312 may be implemented in hardwareand/or software configured to perform a set of specific functions withinthe home device sensing system 300. For example, the incentive modulemay receive data and may include one or more algorithms which may beexecuted by one or more software applications running on generic orspecialized hardware within the home device sensing system 300 to, basedon the determinations made by device data module 304 and/ormodifications identified by modification module 310, identify one ormore incentives to implement the proposed modifications. For instance,the incentive module 312 may generate a discount on an insurance premiumor deductible if the user implements one or more modifications suggestedto the user. In other examples, the incentive module 312 may indicate animpending increase in an insurance premium if the modifications are notimplemented (e.g., rates will increase due to increased risk indicatedby received data). Various other types of incentives may be providedwithout departing from the invention.

The proposed incentive may be communicated to individuals associatedwith the entity (e.g., an insurance agent representing the customer,etc.) and/or the user. For instance, an alert may be issued to the agentand/or user indicating the proposed incentive. The alert may be issuedvia one or more computing devices 314 a-314 e. Various other types ofdevices may also be used without departing from the invention. In someexamples, the alert may be transmitted via email, SMS, social media, andthe like. In some arrangements, the alert may be presenting to a userupon logging in to a website associated with the entity.

The home device sensing systems 200 and 300 of FIGS. 2 and 3 may includethe components described in a single system or device or may be embodiedin separate devices or systems. For instance, each component of thesystems 200 or 300 may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination of the two. Further, each component may be an individualcomponent, physically separate from one or more other components, or maybe combined in a single physical unit with one or more other components.

Further descriptions and examples of the algorithms, functions, andanalyses that may be executed using systems 200 and 300 and associatedcomponents are described below in reference to the remaining figures.

FIG. 4 illustrates one example method of implementing a home devicesensing system according to one or more aspects described herein. Instep 400, data is received from one or more sensors associated with ahome device. As discussed above, the sensors may be different types ofsensors configured to monitor different characteristics of a homedevice. In step 402, a determination is made as to whether the receiveddata is within a predetermined threshold. For instance, if the receiveddata is moisture data, a determination is made as to whether thedetected amount of moisture is outside a predetermined threshold for anacceptable amount of moisture to be detected. In another example, thereceived data may be power consumption and a determination may be madeas to whether the power consumed by the home device is within apredetermined threshold of acceptable power consumption. Additionally oralternatively, the received data may be compared to previously stored(e.g., historical data) for that home device and the determination maybe made as to whether the received data is within a predeterminedthreshold of the historical data (e.g., the sump pump is running moreoften than it has in the past, more moisture is detected than waspresent in previous data, etc.).

If, in step 402, it is determined that the received data is within thepredefined threshold, the data may be stored for future use, comparison,etc., as indicated by step 404. For instance, the data received may bedetermined to be within an acceptable range and thus may be stored forfuture use. If, in step 402, a determination is made that the datareceived is outside the predetermined threshold, an alert may begenerated and transmitted in step 406. For instance, an alert may begenerated indicating the home device being monitored and thecharacteristic that is determined to be outside of the predeterminedthreshold. For instance, the alert may be generated indicating that thedata received from the sump pump indicates higher than a predefinedthreshold of acceptable power consumption, acceptable moisture levels,etc.

The alert may then be transmitted to a user and/or an individualassociated with the entity implementing the system (e.g., an insuranceagent of the insurance company implementing the system). The alert maysimply notify the user and/or agent of the potential issue with the homedevice.

In optional step 408, an insurance rate, premium, etc. of the user maybe adjusted based on the received data. This step may be implementedbased on data that is determined to be within the predeterminedthreshold or outside of the predetermined threshold. For instance, ifthe data is determined to be within the predetermined threshold, thisdata may be used to adjust insurance rates or premiums for the userbased on the received data, any historical data, etc. For example, ifthe data received is within a predetermined threshold (or consistentlywithin the predetermined threshold over a period of time), a user'srates or premium may be reduced because of a reduced risk evidenced bythe received data. Alternatively, if the data is outside thepredetermined threshold (or consistently outside of the threshold), therisk may be higher (e.g., greater risk of failure of the sump pump andassociated flooding). Accordingly, those rates or premium may beincreased to account for the increased risk.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example method of implementing a home devicesensing system according to one or more aspects described herein. Instep 500, data may be received from one or more sensors. In step 502, adetermination may be made as to whether the received data is within apredetermined threshold. This determination may be similar to step 402in FIG. 4. If, in step 502, the data is determined to be within thepredetermined threshold, the data may be stored in step 504 for futureuse.

If, in step 502, it is determined that the data is outside of thepredetermined threshold, an alert may be generated and transmitted instep 506. The alert may be similar to the alert generated andtransmitted in step 406 in FIG. 4 as described above. In step 508, oneor more modifications may be identified based on the received data andthe determination that the data is outside of the predeterminedthreshold. For instance, one or more modifications for the home devicebeing monitored may be determined that may improve operation of thedevice, reduce risk associated with the device, etc. For instance, oneor more proposed modifications may include servicing the home deviceand/or replacing the home device. Various other modifications may beidentified. The proposed modification may be transmitted to the userand/or an individual associated with the entity implementing the system(e.g., an insurance agent). The modification may be suggested to theuser in order to reduce risk of failure associated with the device beingmonitored.

In step 510, one or more incentives for implementing the identifiedmodification may be determined and/or transmitted to the user. Forinstance, the user may receive an incentive (e.g., reduction ininsurance rate, deductible, etc.) for implementing one or more of therecommended modifications. As discussed above, the recommendedmodifications and/or incentives may be transmitted to the user via oneor more computing devices.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another method of implementing a home devicesensing system according to one or more aspects described herein. Instep 600, data associated with a user may be received from one or moresensor(s). In step 602, the received data may be compared to dataassociated with other users. For instance, the received data may becompared to data associated with the same or similar home device ofanother user. In some examples, the other users may be customers of thesame insurance company. The other data used for comparison may be datareceived from sensors similar to the arrangements described above, maybe self-reported by the other users, may be publicly available, and thelike. Various sources of comparison data may be used without departingfrom the invention.

In some arrangements, the received data may be compared with data ofother users within a predefined proximity of the user. For instance, thereceived data may be compared with data of other users on the samestreet, in the same zip code, within a predefined radius (e.g., 1 mile,3 miles, etc.) of the user, and the like.

This comparison may be used to identify one or more characteristics of aneighborhood, area, locality, etc. in step 604. For instance, thecomparison may aid in determining a level of a water table of an areawhich may be indicative of a likelihood of flooding in that area. Thisinformation may then be used, in step 606, to adjust an insurance rateor premium for one or more users (e.g., customers) within the area. Forinstance, the insurance rates for users within the area may be increasedor decreased based on the collective data gathered from the sensingunits.

FIG. 7 illustrates one example user interface providing an alertaccording to one or more aspects described herein. The user interface700 may be presented to a user via a computing device, such as computingdevices 314 a-314 e in FIG. 3. In the example shown, the interface 700includes field 702 indicating the home device from which the data wasreceived. In the example shown, the sump pump was the home device fromwhich data was received. The data received was indicative of an issue(e.g., power consumption was outside the predetermined threshold).Accordingly, the alert was generated.

Interface 700 further includes field 704 in which one or more proposedmodifications may be provided to the user. In the example shown, thesuggested modification is replacement of the sump pump. Field 706provides one or more incentives to the user to implement the recommendedmodifications. For instance, a reduced insurance rate is offered to theuser if the suggested modifications are implemented.

The user may select “OK” option 708 to accept or acknowledge the alert.In some examples, selection of “OK” option may prompt the user withadditional user interfaces to facilitate implementing the recommendedmodifications, receiving the offered incentive, etc.

Alternatively, the user may select “No, Thanks” option 710 to clear thealert and take no further action at that particular time. In somearrangements, the incentive offered may be available to the user for apredetermined amount of time (e.g., one week, one month, etc.).

Provided below are various example arrangements of the home devicesensing systems described herein and one or more implementations of suchsystems. The arrangements described below are merely some examples ofsystems and implementations, and nothing in the examples should beconstrued as limiting the invention to only those examples. Rather,various other systems and implementations may be used without departingfrom the invention.

In one example, data received from one or more sensors associated with aprimary sump pump and a backup or secondary sump pumps (e.g., sensorsindicating power consumption) may indicate that the secondary sump pumpis running while the primary sump pump is not running and one or moremoisture sensors may indicate that there is little or no moisture (e.g.,within the predetermined acceptable threshold for moisture). Althoughthis data may be analyzed or interpreted independently (e.g., data fromeach signal may be considered independently of data from the othersensors), in some examples, the data may be aggregated to provide moreaccurate root cause analysis. For instance, in the above example, thisdata, when considered together, may indicate a problem with the primarysump pump (which should be running before the secondary sump pump wouldrun). An alert may be generated for the user associated with the sumppump that may identify the potential issue (e.g., potential failure ofprimary sump pump), identify a modification (e.g., service the pumpand/or replace pump), and/or may offer an incentive to implement amodification (e.g., your deductible may be reduced by replacing theprimary sump pump because the risk of flood damage may be reduced).Accordingly, the home device sensing system may act as an early warningsystem for users to identify issues with one or more home devices beforethe potential issue leads to damage to the home.

In another example, data received from one or more sensors associatedwith a primary sump pump may indicate that the sump pump has beenrunning for an extended period of time (for example, over an hour). Thisdata may be compared with historical data to determine that the primarysump pump typically runs for thirty (30) seconds every fifteen (15)minutes. Accordingly, the current run time may be identified as outsidea predetermined threshold range of the historical data. Additionally,data may be received (from the one or more sensors or from additionalsensors) indicating that a secondary sump pump is not running, themoisture levels are within an acceptable range, and weather dataindicates that no heavy rain is occurring at the location of the homedevice. Accordingly, an alert may be generated indicating that there maybe a problem with the primary sump pump that is causing it to runcontinuously. The alert may be transmitted to the user associated withthe sump pump and/or to the insurance agent.

In yet another example, a sensor may be used to detect a heat transfercoefficient across a hot water heater. This sensor may transmit dataindicative of corrosion within the hot water heater. Accordingly, whenthe heat transfer coefficient is determined to be outside of apredetermined threshold, an alert may be generated and transmittedindicating a risk of failure of the hot water heater before the failureoccurs. The alert may also recommend replacement of the hot water heaterprior to failure and any subsequent damage.

Various other sensing arrangements of one or more appliances, systems,etc. may be used without departing from the invention.

The systems, apparatuses, methods and computer-readable media discussedabove may provide a more robust analysis of data received from one ormore sensors, which may then provide more accurate indications ofproblems, issues, failures, etc. As discussed above, sensor datareceived from one or more systems may be aggregated with publiclyavailable information, such as weather data, to provide more accurateindications of the cause of an issue or failure. For instance, asdiscussed above, the received sensor data may be aggregated with, forexample, weather data, to understand additional factors associated withthe home, locality, etc. in order to determine whether an actual issueexists or whether there is a failure of a sensor or inaccurate reading.In some arrangements, data received from sensors may be aggregated withthose of other users to understand whether an issue is particular to ahome or is a more widespread issue (e.g., failure of a primary sump pumpleading to secondary pump running or neighborhood has increasedindication of sump pumps running with may indicate a larger issue).

The systems, apparatuses, computer-readable media and methods describedabove may further provide for increased accuracy in identifying riskassociated with a home, neighborhood, locality, etc. Accordingly, one ormore insurance rates, premiums, and the like, may be adjusted based onthis more accurate risk.

While the aspects described herein have been discussed with respect tospecific examples including various modes of carrying out aspects of thedisclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there arenumerous variations and permutations of the above described systems andtechniques that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the stepsillustrated in the illustrative figures may be performed in other thanthe recited order, and that one or more steps illustrated may beoptional in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. Further, one ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various aspects describedwith respect to a particular figure may be combined with one or moreother aspects, in various combinations, without departing from theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a home device; a sensingdevice in communication with the home device and integrated into thehome device, the sensing device being configured to monitor operation ofthe home device; a processing unit comprising a processor; and a memoryunit communicatively coupled to the processing unit and storingcomputer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processingunit, cause the system to: receive, via a wireless transmission, datafrom the sensing device; process, in real-time, the received data todetermine characteristic data of the home device in communication withthe sensing device; compare the determined characteristic data tocharacteristic data for devices within a predefined distance of the homedevice to determine whether the characteristic data is within apredetermined threshold for a locality; responsive to determining thatthe characteristic data is within the predetermined threshold for thelocality, identify a first insurance incentive to provide to a userbased on the characteristic data being within the predeterminedthreshold; responsive to determining that the characteristic data isoutside of the predetermined threshold for the locality: identify aproposed modification to the home device; identify a second insuranceincentive different from the first insurance incentive, to implement theidentified proposed modification to the home device; generate a userinterface including an alert comprising the proposed modification andthe second insurance incentive; and transmit, to a user computingdevice, the generated user interface.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe home device is a sump pump.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein thereceived data from the sensing device includes a plurality of signalsreceived from a plurality of devices in communication with the homedevice.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein each device of the pluralityof devices is configured to sense a different characteristic of the homedevice.
 5. The system of claim 1, further including instructions that,when executed, cause the system to: responsive to determining that thecharacteristic data is within the predetermined threshold for thelocality, store the characteristic data for future use, wherein thefuture use of the stored characteristic data includes comparing thecharacteristic data to characteristic data determined at a second timeand, based on the comparison, providing a third insurance incentive tothe user to make an alternate modification to the home device.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the alert further includes identification ofthe home device.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the predefineddistance includes a predefined radius.
 8. A system, comprising: a firstsensing device configured to sense a first characteristic of a firsthome device; a second sensing device configured to sense a secondcharacteristic of the first home device, the second characteristic beingdifferent from the first characteristic; at least one computing devicein communication with the first sensing device and the second sensingdevice and configured to receive data from the first sensing device andthe second sensing device, the at least one computing device including:a processing unit comprising a processor; and a memory unitcommunicatively coupled to the processor and storing computer-executableinstructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause thesystem to: receive, from the first sensing device and the second sensingdevice and via a wireless transmission, data transmitted by the firstsensing device and the second sensing device; process the received datato determine first characteristic data from the first sensing device andsecond characteristic data from the second sensing device; compare thefirst characteristic data and second characteristic data to historicaldata of other devices to determine whether at least one of the firstcharacteristic data and the second characteristic data is outside of athreshold range of the historical data; and responsive to determining,based on the comparison, that the at least one of the firstcharacteristic data and the second characteristic data is outside of athreshold range of the historical data: identify a modification for thefirst home device to reduce risk of failure of the first home device;identify a first insurance incentive to transmit to a first user toimplement the identified modification; generate a user interfaceincluding an alert comprising the modification and the first insuranceincentive; transmit, to a computing device of the first user, thegenerated user interface; and responsive to determining, based on thecomparison, that the at least one of the first characteristic data andthe second characteristic data is within the threshold range of thehistorical data, identifying a second insurance incentive, differentfrom the first insurance incentive, to provide to the first user andtransmitting the second insurance incentive to the computing device ofthe first user.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first sensingdevice is integrated into the first home device.
 10. The system of claim8, wherein the first characteristic is power consumption and the secondcharacteristic is water level.
 11. The system of claim 8, furtherincluding a second home device having a least a third sensor configuredto sense a third characteristic, the second home device being a backupof the first home device and the at least one computing device being incommunication with the second home device.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein the third characteristic is power consumption and wherein thirdcharacteristic data is received from the third sensor and the secondinsurance incentive is a reduced premium, and the modification isreplacement of the first home device.
 13. The system of claim 8, whereinthe first home device is associated with the first user and wherein thememory unit further includes instructions, that when executed by theprocessing unit, cause the system to: compare the first characteristicdata and second characteristic data with data received from a secondhome device of at least a second user different from the first user, thesecond home device being in communication with the at least onecomputing device.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the second homedevice of the at least a second user is within a predefined distance ofthe first home device of the first user.
 15. The system of claim 14,further including instructions, that when executed by the processingunit, cause the system to: determine an insurance rate for the firstuser and the second user based on the comparison.
 16. A method,comprising: receiving, by a computing device, via a wirelesstransmission and from a sensing device in communication with a homedevice, characteristic data of the home device; comparing, by thecomputing device, the received characteristic data to characteristicdata for devices within a predefined distance of the home device todetermine, in real-time and by the computing device, whether thecharacteristic data is within a predetermined threshold for a locality;if it is determined that the characteristic data is within thepredetermined threshold for the locality, identifying a first insuranceincentive to provide to a user associated with the home device; and ifit is determined that the characteristic data is outside of thepredetermined threshold for the locality: identifying, by the computingdevice a proposed modification to the home device to reduce risk offailure of the home device; identifying a second insurance incentive,different from the first insurance incentive to implement the proposedmodification to the home device; generating a user interface includingan alert comprising the proposed modification and the second insuranceincentive; and transmitting the user interface to a computing device ofa user.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the home device is a sumppump.
 18. The method of claim 16, further including storing thecharacteristic data for future use if it is determined that thecharacteristic data is within the predetermined threshold for thelocality.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the future use of thestored characteristic data includes comparing the characteristic data tocharacteristic data determined at a second time and, based on thecomparison, providing a third insurance incentive to the user to make analternate modification to the home device.
 20. The method of claim 16,wherein the alert further includes identification of the home device.